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   <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Pure VGA/SVGA hardware programming (registers, identification, and otherlow-level stuff.)">
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   <TITLE>VGA/SVGA Video Programming--Standard VGA Chipset Reference</TITLE>
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<CENTER><A HREF="../home.htm">Home</A> <A HREF="#intro">Intro</A> <A HREF="#general">General</A>
<A HREF="#register">Registers</A> <A HREF="#index">Index</A> <A HREF="../home.htm#vga">Back</A>&nbsp;
<HR WIDTH="100%"><B>Hardware Level VGA and SVGA Video Programming Information
Page</B></CENTER>

<CENTER>VGA Chipset Reference&nbsp;
<HR WIDTH="100%"></CENTER>

<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="#intro">Introduction</A> -- introduction to the VGA reference</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="#general">General Programming Information</A> -- details of the
functional operation of the VGA hardware.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="#register">Input/Output Register Information</A> -- details on
the VGA registers themselves</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="#index">Indices</A> -- convenient listings of fields and their
locations alphabetically and by function</LI>
</UL>
<A NAME="intro"></A><B>Introduction</B>
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This section is intended
to be a reference to the common functionality of the original IBM VGA and
compatible adapters. If you are writing directly to hardware then this
is the lowest common denominator of nearly all video cards in use today.
Nearly all programs requiring the performance of low-level hardware access
resort to this baseline capacity, so this information is still valuable
to programmers. In addition most of the VGA functions apply to SVGA cards
when operating in SVGA modes, so it is best to know how to use them even
when programming more advanced hardware.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Most VGA references I have
seen document the VGA by describing its operation in the various BIOS modes.
However, because BIOS was designed for use in MS-DOS real mode applications,
its functionality is limited in other environments. This document is structured
in a way that explains the VGA hardware and its operation independent of
the VGA BIOS modes, which will allow for better understanding of the capabilities
of the VGA hardware.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This reference has grown
out of my own notes and experimentation while learning to program the VGA
hardware. During this process I have identified errors in various references
that I have used and have attempted to document the VGA hardware's actual
behavior as best as possible. If in your experience you find any of this
information to be inaccurate, or even if you find this information to be
misleading or inaccurate, please let me know!
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One of the reasons I started
this reference was that I was using existing references and found myself
wishing for a hypertext reference as almost every register is affected
by the operation of another, and was constantly flipping pages. Here I
simply use links for the register references, such as <A HREF="crtcreg.htm#13">Offset
Register</A>, rather than stating something like: Offset Register (CRTC:
Offset = 13h, bits 7-0). While the second method is more informative, using
them for every reference to the register makes the text somewhat bogged
down. HTML allows simply clicking on the register name and all of the details
are provided. Another is that no single reference had all of the information
I was looking for, and that I had penciled many corrections and clarifications
into the references themselves. This makes it difficult to switch to a
newer version of a book when another edition comes out -- I still use my
heavily annotated second edition of Ferarro's book, rather than the more
up-to-date third edition.

<P><A NAME="general"></A><B>General Programming Information</B>
<BR><B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </B>This section is intended
to provide functional information on various aspects of the VGA. If you
are looking simply for VGA register descriptions look in the next section.
The VGA hardware is complex and can be confusing to program. Rather than
attempt to document the VGA better than existing references by using more
words to describe the registers, this section breaks down the functionality
of the VGA into specific categories of similar functions or by detailing
procedures for performing certain operations.
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="vgamem.htm">Accessing the VGA Display Memory</A> -- details on
the memory interface between the CPU and VGA frame buffer.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="vgaseq.htm">Sequencer Operation</A> -- details on how the VGA
hardware rasterizes the display buffer</LI>

<UL>
<LI>
Text-mode</LI>

<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="vgatext.htm">VGA Text Mode Operation</A> -- details concerning
text mode operation, including attributes and fonts.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="textcur.htm">Manipulating the Text-mode Cursor</A> -- details
controlling the appearance and location of the cursor.</LI>
</UL>
</UL>

<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="vgafx.htm">Special Effects Hardware</A> -- details on hardware
support for windowing, paging, smooth scrolling and panning, and split-screen
operation.</LI>
</UL>

<LI>
<A HREF="vgaattr.htm">Attribute Controller Operation</A> -- details on
the conversion of sequenced display data into DAC input. <B>(WIP)</B></LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="vgadac.htm">DAC Operation</A> -- details controlling the conversion
of palette data into analog signals.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="vgacrtc.htm">Display Generation</A> -- details on formatting of
the produced video signal for output to the display.</LI>
</UL>
<A NAME="register"></A><B>Input/Output Register Information</B>
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This section is intended
to provide a detailed reference of the VGA's internal registers. It attempts
to combine information from a variety of sources, including the references
listed in the reference section of the home page; however, rather than
attempting to condense this information into one reference, leaving out
significant detail, I have attempted to expand upon the information available
and provide an accurate, detailed reference that should be useful to any
programmer of the VGA and SVGA. Only those registers that are present and
functional on the VGA are given, so if you are seeking information specific
to the CGA, EGA, MCGA, or MGA adapters try the Other References section
on the home page.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In some cases I have changed
the name of the register, not to protect the innocent but simply to make
it clearer to understand. One clarification is the use of "Enable" and
"Disable". A the function of a field with the name ending with "Enable"
is enabled when it is 1, and likewise a field with a name ending in Disable
is disabled when it is 1. Another case is when two fields have similar
or identical names, I have added more description to the name to differentiate
them.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It can be difficult to understand
how to manipulate the VGA registers as many registers have been packed
into a small number of I/O ports and accessing them can be non-intuituve,
especially the Attribute Controller Registers, so I have provided a tutorial
for doing this.
<UL>
<LI>
&nbsp;<A HREF="vgareg.htm">Accessing the VGA Registers</A> -- methods of
manipulating the VGA registers</LI>
</UL>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In order to facilitate understanding
of the registers, one should view them as groups of similar registers,
based upon how they are accessed, as the VGA uses indexed registers to
access most parameters. This also roughly places them in groups of similar
functionality; however, in many cases the fields do not fit neatly into
their category. In certain cases I have utilized quotes from the IBM VGA
Programmer's Reference, this information is given in "<I>italic.</I>"&nbsp;
This is meant to be a temporary placeholder until a better description
can be written, it may not be applicable to a standard VGA implementation.&nbsp;
Presented to roughly based upon their place in the graphics pipeline between
the CPU and the video outputs are the:
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="graphreg.htm">Graphics Registers</A> -- control the way the CPU
accesses video RAM.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="seqreg.htm">Sequencer Registers</A> -- control how video data
is sent to the DAC.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="attrreg.htm">Attribute Controller Registers</A> -- selects the
16 color and 64 color palettes used for EGA/CGA compatibility.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="crtcreg.htm">CRT Controller Registers</A> -- control how the video
is output to the display.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="colorreg.htm">Color Registers</A> -- selects the 256 color palette
from the maximum possible colors.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="extreg.htm">External Registers</A> -- miscellaneous registers
used to control video operation.</LI>
</UL>
<A NAME="index"></A><B>Indices</B>
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In order to locate a particular
register quickly, the following indexes are provided. The first is a listing
of all of the register fields of the VGA hardware. This is especially useful
for fields that are split among multiple registers, or for finding the
location of a field that are packed in with other fields in one register.
The second is indexed by function groups each pertaining to a particular
part of the VGA hardware. This makes understanding and programming the
VGA hardware easier by listing the fields by subsystem, as the VGA's fields
are grouped in a somewhat haphazard fashion. The third is intended for
matching a read or write to a particular I/O port address to the section
where it is described.
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="vgargidx.htm">VGA Field Index</A> -- An alphabetical listing of
all fields and links to their location.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="vgafunc.htm">VGA Functional Index</A> -- A listing of all fields
and links to their location grouped by function.</LI>

<LI>
<A HREF="portidx.htm">VGA I/O Port Index</A> -- A listing of VGA I/O ports
in numerical order.</LI>
</UL>
Notice: All trademarks used or referred to on this page are the property
of their respective owners.
<BR>All pages are Copyright &copy; 1997, 1998, J. D. Neal, except where
noted. Permission for utilization and distribution is subject to the terms
of the <A HREF="license.htm">FreeVGA Project Copyright License</A>.

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